The bright orange albedo of small mandarin oranges

Last month I posted a bit of trivia about detecting the ripeness of oranges.  In the comment thread, MaraK reported encountering a Clementine whose inner pulp was orange ("Like, fake-orange. I think it was dyed.")  I replied that the albedo and central column of the oranges I was eating was white.

But last week while at the store I grabbed a bag mandarin oranges (brand name "Cuties") and noticed that the inside of the peel was, in fact, a brilliant orange color (I'm not sure if the photos above quite reproduce the intensity of the color).

So I started searching the 'net.  The company's website reports that there are two types of "Cuties".  Apparently the bag I purchased must have been Murcott mandarins:

California Cuties are actually two different fruits: Clementine mandarins and Murcott mandarins. Clementine mandarins are harvested from mid-October through mid-January; Murcott mandarins from mid-January through April.

The website and the product fact sheet make no mention of artificial dyes; the only notation on the package label refers to wax on the external surface.

I found one blog post addressing the curious color of the inside of these oranges, at The Scientist Gardener.  One enterprising reader of that blog contacted the company:

"I went to the source--Cuties themselves and posed the question. This is their reply: Thank you for your inquiry.  Cuties are not dyed. The color you see is a natural occurrence."

At Little Locavores, I found that there is a food dye approved for use on oranges - Citrus Red No. 2.  That dye is prohibited in California, where Cuties come from.  Wikipedia has this to say about the dye:

As a food dye, it is permitted by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 1956 only for use in the United States to color the skin of oranges. While the dye is a carcinogen, it does not penetrate the orange peel into the pulp.

That's all the information I have for now.